Microsoft is licensing some of its hardware designs to third parties. In a press release, the company announced that it is beginning an intellectual property licensing program that will include some interesting technologies for mice and keyboards.
The company said it would make the U2 Internet detection and switching technologies, tilt wheel and magnifier tool broadly available to third-party brands and hardware manufacturers.
Microsoft said it would license the technologies as part of its December 2003 promise to open up its intellectual property portfolio to all interested parties.
Overview :
Microsoft has always been known as a software company, but the firm has been making hardware for nearly as long as it has been in business.
In the early days the company sold an add-in card for the Apple that contained a Zilog Z-80 CPU and allowed the venerable computer to run CP/M programs.
In the early 1980s, Microsoft introduced its first mouse, intended to boost sales of Microsoft Word for DOS. Over the years the Microsoft Mouse became a bestseller and the company broadened its hardware line to include keyboards, joysticks, and of course, the Xbox game console.
The Licensing Program :
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/2281/mstiltmouse3lm.jpg
It covers three main peripheral technologies -
[LIST=i]
[li]U2 technology enables a computer peripheral device (such as a mouse or keyboard) to be connected to a computer using either a PS2 or USB interface, and have it automatically sense the type of connection.[/li][li]The Tilt Wheel is hardware component of mice and optional keyboard offerings that allows users to tilt the wheel from side to side as well as up and down to scroll both horizontally and vertically.[/li][li]The Magnifier is a viewing and editing tool used with input devices such as a mouse. It delivers functionality equivalent to holding a magnifying glass up to a computer screen.[/li][/LIST]
Future :
Will the licensing initiative result in a flood of peripheral manufacturers adopting Microsoft’s features? It will probably depend on the terms of the license, including up-front and per-unit fees.
The Tilt Wheel license, for example, is set at US$0.30 per unit. The larger question is whether or not the market can support more and more features on mice and keyboards, or whether simple “commodity” peripherals will win the day.
Also interesting is the idea that Microsoft is looking to make more money from its IP. According to the pricing page: “The Microsoft tilt wheel license offers limited rights to issued and pending Microsoft patents.”